Stamp Act Synthesis

These documents are the beginning discussions of freedom and independence. The colonists have been given rights to govern themselves for so long, almost being ignored (governmentally) by England. They would grow accustomed to that way of life, being spoiled by English protection, the English asking little of them in return. When the stamp act was inducted, this challenged their entire former system of government. A country taxing them from afar, to pay for things they would never see? Colonists, with their newfound unity and patriotic spirit, would find this move insulting. Taxation without representation reinforced their “lower class citizen” status. They argued that they were just as much English citizens as anyone living in there at the time, and that taxing them without consultation brought them equal to any lower class minority. Were they to be “tamed like slaves?” This is when the ideals of independence first took wing in the colonies. Sending out an act of resolves to the Crown was a huge step in American history, because this was them fighting back against what they thought was unjust. The significance of this event was not the repeal of the stamp act; but a change in the attitudes, a change of heart, and a shift in power. For the first time in the colonies history, they were strong and confident enough to defy those who inflicted those injustices.